Heimsleikar íslenska hestsins 2011

 

Dear friends of the Icelandic Horse.

It is my honour and pleasure to be here with you today at this great international festival of the Icelandic Horse and to see once again how our amazing horse breed makes people from different countries, bacground and ages come together to enjoy this event.

The Icelandic Horse has always played a key role in the Icelandic culture and history as well as being valuable for transporation and work, and today the Icelandic Horse still plays a big part in our agriculture, tourism as well as being one of the most popular sports and hobbies in the country.

Here at the World Championships we can see the result of this in good horses, both bred in Iceland and abroad. The passion for breeding and competition is what drives our industry and it is a pleasure to see the excellent results horses from many countries are getting at these championships. Both in the breeding show and in the sports competition.

It is also wonderful to see how the audience here at the World Championships has been supportive and welcoming to riders from the newer FEIF countries and everyone has come together to cheer for great perfomances, beutiful riding and top class horses no matter where they come from. It is the spirit of unity that is typical for lovers of the Icelandic Horse for we all share that common passion and drive.

This year WorldFengur, the international database on Icelandic Horses, is ten years old. WorldFengur is constantly developing and it is important part of the FEIF co-operation. We are pleased to see how it is growing and improving as well as all the FEIF work which we all value very much.

I congratulate all those who have won prizes here this week as well as all participants who made it here and enjoyed the honour of taking part. I want to thank all of you for being a part of the adventure that the Icelandic Horse had become. Lets all enjoy it together – now and in the future. I will also thank Austria for to prepare and manage the World Championships 2011.

Finally, I wish you success and good times with your horses and hope to see you at the Landsmót National Show in Iceland next year where we warmly welcome you all and aim to put on the biggest and best Landsmót ever!

 

Thank you!